Imagine the universe without order. Our massive galaxy, the Milky Way, would spiral out of control. Our solar system, our sun and all the planets would function chaotically. There would be collisions and, eventually, utter ruin. Instead, as we look into the skies, we observe the perfect functioning of what God has fashioned.

We may have never considered it, but the reason we don’t have a disordered universe today is because creation submits to the laws God established. If our moon complained, “I’ve been reflecting the sun’s light for a long time. I choose not to submit to that arrangement anymore,” it would, of course, be nothing but a dark spot in the sky.

Our wise Creator also established order and peace for mankind through authority and submission to authority. This principle transcends time and space, for even the Trinity is bound by it. God provided it for us to bring peace and a wholesome life.

In our natural world, the principle of gravity—the force that pulls us toward the center of the earth—provides us with safety and order. You can make choices in cooperation with this universal law that will enable you to live a long and healthy life. You can also choose to disregard the law of gravity and foolishly walk off of a 10-story building. But as soon as you do, you will quickly end up injured for life—or the guest of honor at your own funeral service.

Submission to authority is a thread that runs throughout every aspect of our lives.

Look at your body, your hands, legs, eyes—each member must submit to the other parts of your body. When that order is violated on a cellular level, you have cancer—self-destruction

If you go to the airport and try to get through security without submitting yourself and your baggage to the authorities, you’ll end up in prison. Try to board a train without following the protocol of producing a ticket, and see what happens. The nation in which you live has established laws, and you have to obey them.

If there were no laws, no governments, no police, no submission to authorities of any kind, what would our world be like? To whatever extent you have chosen to obey and submit, it has helped you to still be alive today. Likewise, whatever tragedies have befallen the human race, the vast majority have come be-cause of rebellion against authority.

An eagle can choose to walk around like a chicken, pecking and looking for insects, or it can submit to the laws of thermodynamics. By doing so, it can soar in the sky and enjoy the mountain peaks as few can. Yet it depends on this majestic bird choosing to submit to the laws God ordained.

To some, submission to authority always sounds negative, like somebody robbing them of their freedom. But Paul tells us that life or death is ours to choose, and in Christ, everything is “Yes,” never “No.” Psalm 34:10 reads, “The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” When we choose to obey the law of submission, we are free to live and experience life and fullness of life just as Jesus promised.

The first command God gave man was to Adam. He told him that of the two trees in the middle of the garden—the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—he was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Please understand the very nature of God is love. And it was out of this love that He gave Adam and Eve the opportunity to submit to His instructions. This was for their own benefit and blessing. But Satan deceived them, and Adam and Eve disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit.

Now we remain under a curse because we inherited the nature of Adam.

We are all born with a desire to resist authority and to assume that submission is our worst enemy.

How quickly do toddlers just learning to speak latch onto the word “no”? Then they start using the word to defy authority. A child doesn’t have to be taught to rebel! It comes quite naturally. The problem is that we are all independent and rebellious by our very nature. It is through our continual choosing of the way of the cross and the work of the Holy Ghost that we are transformed to the nature of Jesus. This nature of Christ is one of absolute submission. Satan’s nature is the exact opposite—rebellion. As we surrender to the way of the cross and choose to submit, we find freedom, healing and blessing.